


Are you my salvation (who found me deserted)

by Souzou_no_dokusha



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Huening kai is literally an angel, Hurt/Comfort, I promise there's more action than the summary implies, I will add other characters as they come, Magic, No Smut, also very loosely based off "angels last mission: love", based off Eternally MV, based off nap of a star mv, now featuring: creepy cat, seriously everyone is angsty except Hueningkai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26419972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Souzou_no_dokusha/pseuds/Souzou_no_dokusha
Summary: A long time ago, five boys made a promise to a starexcept the promise was broken, and now the world is struggling without dreams.Kai doesn't know why that means he has to be guardian angel for a group of four boys, who seem to be handling things well enough on their own, even if they seem a little, well, sad...nevermind. If Kai is going to be a guardian angel, he's going to be the best guardian angel there ever was! Those boys are going to be happy, whether they like it or not!Now the only problem is actually getting them to talk to each other...
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu & Choi Soobin & Choi Yeonjun & Huening Kai & Kang Taehyun, Choi Beomgyu & Huening Kai, Choi Beomgyu & Kang Taehyun, Choi Soobin & Huening Kai, Choi Yeonjun & Huening Kai, Choi Yeonjun & Kang Taehyun, Huening Kai & Kang Taehyun
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello fellow MOAs! and welcome to my first fanfic in celebration of the fact that I finally have a computer of my own! I really hope that you enjoy it. just a disclaimer, this is based off of a combination of Angels last mission: love (which I highly recommend) as well many theories on the music videos and a healthy dose of my own imagination, so if it doesn't make any sense, well, sorry I guess? I promise I'm trying. Anyways, here we go!

Once upon a time…

Thats how all of these stories start, isn’t it?

Once upon a time, something happened, and then everything fell apart

That's how it always works, and yet,

We still tell them.

Why? Is there something that we want to gain from them? Or something that we resonate with? Either way, we still tell them.

Because sometimes, we can find ourselves in a tale.

And that is what happens in this story

A story of five boys, a promise, and a star.

So… let's begin, shall we?

_Prologue_

_This is the story of five boys and a star._

Laughter, ringing out through the trees as a small boy chased another, while three others stood frozen, cheering the other on . They had snuck out at night again, and they were probably going to be punished when they were caught, but they didn’t care. Right then, it was just them, the forest and the starlight.

_The boys and the star made a promise_

“Lets promise on that star!” exclaimed one of the boys

“Why that one?” the shortest asked

“Because it looks lonely. Even stars need friends!” None of the boys could argue with that logic, so with soft smiles and gentle giggles, the boys linked pinkies, with the youngest leaving his left pinky free

“For the star” He said. And they promised, none of them noticing a soft presence at the youngest's side.

_Let's meet again here, even if we separate_

And they did. But it took many years.

Because the boys grew up.

One grew hard

One grew brash

One faded into the background

One became suspicious

And one didn’t grow at all

_As the boys separated over time, the star fell asleep_

Eventually, one of the boys was lost, and that broke the others. They drew apart, and forgot the promise that they had made.

But the star didn’t forget.

_Then the night sky lost its starlight and people lost their dreams_

And soon, what is lost will be found.

_And years have passed_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we meet Kai, a Guardian angel-in-training

Chapter 1

_ Kai _

Any normal person looking out at the river that afternoon would have seen just that: a river. A shallow, slow-moving river that was slightly green, flowing lazily between moss-covered rocks. A more attentive observer walking their dog by the river might have noticed a tree with its branches hanging down over the river, shaking in a way that seemed a bit too strong to be the wind. But only the dog, Eun, walking faithfully by her owner’s side, saw the truly ridiculous spectacle that happened on the river that afternoon.

_______________

Eun didn’t know what the floaty not-human was thinking! She had seen this strange not-human before, while outside with her human, and she thought that the not human had sense! After all, it would always pet her when she asked, even if it was a little rude for ignoring her human. But whenever she asked the not-human to greet her human, it would just smile and put its paw in front of its mouth.

Strange.

Eun knew the not-human though, and she also knew that the not-human, even though it didn’t smell like a human, looked like a human.

And humans can’t fly. This is why she was confused as to why this not-human was stretched out on a tree branch hanging out over the river, reaching towards…. 

_ Was that a cat! _

This not-human really was a fool! Risking falling into the river for a cat of all things! Eun barked at the not-human, telling it to get down from there, but the cat, a scrawny black thing that looked like it could more than handle itself, startled and jumped, landing on the not-humans face and then scrambling down out of the tree, easy as you please. Which left the not-human clinging to the branch as cracked and fell into the water.

_ Splash _

Eun could have told the not-human that nothing good would come out of helping a cat.

_________________________________________

Kai spluttered as he surfaced out of the middle of the river, swimming desperately against the current until he pulled himself out of the water and collapsed on the bank. Peering up at the sky through his wet fringe, he asked “Really? You could have told me she would get down on her own!” 

There was no reply, as always. 

Sighing, Kai sat up and snapped his fingers, returning his clothing to the pristine white it always was, as befitting his status as a guardian angel. Well, guardian angel-in-training, with jurisdiction over the animals in the Busan region. It wasn’t as glamorous as having a human to guard, but Kai enjoyed his job.

Well, most days.

“Are you sure that you didn’t give me a prank mission on purpose since this is my last day here?” 

Again, no answer. 

“I will take that as a yes then.” Standing up, Kai took another look out at the river, which was really beautiful now that he wasn’t almost drowning in it. It was a beautiful day as well, the sun shining down from the sky with a few fluffy, cheerful clouds blown slowly by a gentle breeze that ruffled Kai’s bangs as it blew past him, whispering secrets that no one could know. Sometimes Kai wished that he could understand the wind, but it seemed to like him well enough even if he couldn’t speak its language. “Don’t forget about me, ok?” He whispered to the breeze, even though he wasn’t sure who his message would be carried to. “Well, it's time to get going!” with that, Kai spread his wings and took off. 

It was his last day on assignment after all, and he was going to enjoy it!

_______________________________

Four hours later found Kai sitting on the edge of a building, kicking his legs as he watched the sunset.  _ It really is beautiful here, isn't it?  _ “I’m going to miss this place.” He sighed and kicked off, flying low over the city that had become his home for the past few years, waving at the dogs and cats that he saw on the way. They all knew him after all, and even if he wasn’t really their friend, they were still  _ his  _ in a way, and some of them he would even consider his family. He finally landed in an abandoned alleyway, dark from the lack of streetlights and took a few steps forward, calling softly “Min-ki? Are you there?” He waited for a few moments before trying again, a little louder this time, “Min-ki?” He waited for a while longer, and he was just about to leave when he heard it. A grouchy yowl, coming from behind a stack of crates. “There you are!” Kai exclaimed in happiness as an old grey tabby cat slunk out from behind the crates, climbed on top of them, and began grooming itself. “Min-ki, are you ignoring me?” The cat moved on to wash behind its ears. “Min-kiiiiiiii come onnnnn look at meeeee!” Kai went up and crouched down next to the crates, giving the cat his best doe eyes. “Please?” 

Finally, the cat snapped.

_ What do you want?  _ Min-ki, the matriarch of the street cats this side of the river, could never deal with whining, not that that ever kept Kai from doing it. He was convinced that the surly old cat had a soft spot for him, after all, she had shown him the way to the struggling animals so he could help them, and sometimes (though she denied it vehemently) Kai was convinced that she treated him as one of her own kittens. Kai never told her this either, but sometimes, and only sometimes, he thought of her as a mother.

“Oh it's nothing, it’s just... I’m leaving. Tonight.” 

Min-ki blinked slowly, looking as unsettled as a cat of her age and dignity would ever allow herself to for all of a split second, before licking her paw and washing vigorously behind her ears, even though she had already done so just minutes earlier. 

“Min-ki?”

_ So you’re finally leaving, are you?  _ Min-ki grumbled. I _ was beginning to think I'd never be rid of you. Why did you stop here though?  _ Despite her rough act, the old cat looked genuinely curious

“Because I wanted to say goodbye” Kai said softly, then hesitated and murmured “I’m going to miss you.”

_ Honestly, this kit! Come over here!  _ Growled Min-ki as she began to “wash” Kai's face enthusiastically, messing up his hair with her paws.  _ …. There’s still an empty space on the wall if you ever come back. I’ll keep the little ones from taking it. _

Kai knew that was as good as her saying that she would miss him too.

__________________________

Taehyun knew that this had been a bad idea. Then again that didn’t do him any good in his current situation, hanging off the side of a cliff with just his fingers, which were gradually growing numb. He didn’t even know how he ended up in this situation, hanging onto a cliff edge close to midnight, the smoking remains of his motorbike next to his hands, just out of reach. There was nothing to pull himself up with, and with every second his hands were slipping farther down the root he had managed to grab after his bike had hit something and thrown him off. 

“Is anyone there?!” He called, frantically, and he heard no answer. Not surprising, considering the late hour and the fact that this was a rarely used road. Taehyun cursed himself again for his foolishness in running off without his phone or telling anyone where he was going. 

_ Not that they would care anyway.  _ Stated the little voice in his head that was getting harder to ignore.  _ You are going to disappear here, and no. one. will. know.  _

Was he really going to die here?

_ NO! I don’t want to die!  _ “Someone? Anyone, please! Save me!” 

But no one answered.

And as his hands finally slipped off of the root, Taehyun could have sworn he saw flashes of… memory? 

Five boys, laughing and playing together. 

Four boys, crying

One boy, sitting alone in a house of untrustworthy people. 

_ Is this what they mean by your life flashes before your eyes before you die? _

He didn’t know. 

He started to close his eyes, but then he saw… something. A hand, reaching out to him, and a worried face with brown hair framing deep brown eyes, and were those… wings? Right behind the stranger, glowing softly. No, they couldn't be. Taehyun laughed to himself 

_ I guess I’m still seeing ridiculous things, even before I die.  _

He felt something grab his wrist, then everything went black.

_______________________

Kai was doomed. He had missed the deadline. Panting, he frantically dropped from the sky and hit the ground running, slamming into the closed garden gate. “Oh no, no! Please! I'm just a few minutes late! Please let me in!” He called as he pulled on the gate that would allow him to go home. He stayed there for a few minutes, banging on the gate to be let in, until he gave up and sank to the ground with his back to the gate and his head on his knees, sobbing softly. 

An angel can only stay in this world for so long without a mission, they don’t have enough power on their own to stay solid without one. They would need to go back to the realm of the star soon enough, or they would dissipate. So to a junior angel like Kai, who had no power of his own, being shut out of the garden that was his only way home was basically a death sentence, and he knew it.

_ When I said it was my last day here, I didn’t mean it was my last day anywhere!  _ He thought desperately, continuing to cry heavily. When he had finally cried himself out, he just sat there, leaning against the garden gates and looking up at the stars as they slowly moved through the sky, gradually fading as the sky lightened and the sun started to peek above the horizon. He closed his eyes and turned his face towards the sun, feeling a slight breeze ruffling his bangs. Then, he heard a gate creak and footsteps gradually coming closer to him on the cobbled path outside of the Garden. 

“Ah, and what are you doing?” Asked a gruff voice. 

Lifting his tearstained face up from his arms, Kai glanced up into the face of his senior angel and promptly got on his knees

“Please forgive me! I didn’t mean to be late! I just…”

“Thought it would be a good idea to mess with life and death?” Kai could hear the eyebrow raise in that sentence but didn’t dare to raise his head. 

“You do know what the punishment is for angels who mess with things outside of their jurisdiction, right? You could disappear for this!”

“But I couldn’t just leave him! He was calling for help! He needed me!”

Bright young eyes looked up to meet impossibly old ones, gleaming with determination and unshed tears. “How could I leave someone who needed me?”

His senior just looked on impassively, then sighed almost sadly.

“Does that mean you are ready to receive your punishment?”

Rather than reply, Kai just closed his eyes, bowed his head, and prepared for the worst. 

Which is why he was surprised when he opened his eyes to a blank white space moments later. His senior was standing before him holding a scroll, and when he noticed him looking, he cleared his throat and read in a voice like thunder:

_ Angel Kai, for the crime of interfering with life and death, will henceforth be stripped of his position as a guardian for the animals of the busan region, and instead, be given a new mission. _

“What?!” Kai exclaimed. “I’m not going to disappear?”

“No, it seems the star has a plan for you. They have given you this last chance, so use it wisely.”

“What will I be doing?” Kai asked, trying to stand up, only to have his legs give out on him before giving up and deciding to just sit instead of kneeling. 

Looking thoroughly unamused, his senior opened the scroll once again and read silently, his eyes slowly getting bigger as he read, before looking at Kai in what seemed to be realization and a hint of sadness. 

Kai did not appreciate the pause. “What is it!” He asked again, only slightly desperately. 

His senior merely stared at him for a second, before snapping the scroll closed and gruffly stating “Congratulations. You are now an official guardian angel.”

“What?” 

“But don’t think this is a reward! You are still being punished! And you will have a mission as well.”

_ How could this possibly be a punishment?  _ Kai wondered. Out loud, he asked “So, who will I be guarding? And what is my mission?”

“Their names are…”

_ Wait, names?  _ No angel had ever had more than one human to guard at once before, it just wasn’t done! And Kai was getting this for his very first mission?

His senior continued, ignoring Kai’s growing panic “... Kang Taehyun, Choi Soobin, Choi Beomgyu, and Choi Yeonjun. And your mission involves them as well. Your job is to get them to be friends with each other and guard them along the way. You will receive more guidance when the time is right. This may sound easy, but I’m warning you, if you fail this mission, there will be consequences for more than just you.”

_ Wait, what does that mean? _

“No questions?”

“Well…”

“Ok, good.” His senior snapped his fingers and they appeared back inside the garden, the gate swinging open. He then thrust a black backpack into Kai’s arms before Kai felt a force pulling him out of the garden

“Oh! And one last thing! You will be taking human form for this mission. The backpack should have everything you need.”

“Wait! Can you just…”

But Kais senior cut him off again, just before Kai was dragged out of the gate. 

“Good luck, and  _ don’t fail. _ ”

Kai fell onto his backside, and the gate closed with a slam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so... that was a ride. Stay tuned, because next chapter features the adventures of naive, has-virtually-no-idea-how-to-be-a-functioning-human-being Hueningkai! see you next chapter!


	3. Why is the world treating me like this?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our protagonist gets lost and runs into a giant. And is confused. That's about it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the late update! life happened.   
> aside from that... THERE'S A COMEBACK ON OCTOBER 26 I AM SO DARN EXCITED!!!  
> okay, I'm done.   
> Enjoy!

_ Huening kai.  _

Kai mumbled the name to himself over and over as he wandered the city, staring at the map that he was given. Of course, the first thing he did after getting kicked out of the garden (the very small screaming fit that  _ absolutely  _ did not make the squirrels look at him like he was crazy-which was just offensive, they were  _ squirrels,  _ who were they to judge?- didn’t count) was look in the backpack that his senior had given to him. The contents were, as follows:

200,000 won

A map with an apartment building circled

Transfer papers and a student transcript

A house key with the number 405 on it

A resume (when he looked at it Kai’s eyes bugged out. He could do  _ that many things?  _ What job would even  _ need  _ someone that could balance 3 plates on his head?)

A stack of report paper

A phone (or at least what Kai  _ thought  _ was a phone, he had never used one before.)

A change of clothes (jeans and a sweatshirt)

A school uniform,

And an assortment of pencils and pens. 

All in all, it was a fairly straightforward message:  _ Live here, go to this school, get a job, and find your people.  _

“Yeah right!” Kai yelled at the sky. “What do you expect me to do with this?! I don’t even know where I am!” He looked back at the map, only to notice the people around him looking at him weirdly, or backing away. 

_ Shoot, I forgot people can see me now.  _ Kai took a moment to mourn all of the pranks he wouldn’t be able to pull now that he was a visible human, and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

He then walked away as fast as he could without looking embarrassed which, to be honest, he failed completely. 

Two hours later, Kai was completely and utterly lost. “You would  _ think _ ” Kai muttered to himself, “that after three years of guarding the animals of this city I would be able to find an apartment building!” He had always been awful with directions though, and he had never really needed to find anything in this city before. He would just go wherever he felt like, which, now that he thought about it, was a terrible way to get to know a town. “I never thought that I would need to  _ live  _ here though!” Kai was so focused on looking at the map he was holding that he didn’t notice anything in front of him until he bumped headfirst into something soft and stumbled back, falling onto his butt for the second time that day. 

“Oh!” exclaimed a gentle voice “are you ok?” 

A hand entered his field of vision and Kai looked up, 

And UP. 

_ Heavens this boy was tall! _

The giant that he had bumped into stayed there with his hand extended until Kai awkwardly reached up and grabbed it, letting himself be pulled up. 

“Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going”

The giant, who wasn’t all  _ that  _ tall, now that Kai was standing up (he was still taller than him though, which was… unusual. Kai was tall even for an angel) chuckled. “That's ok, I’m sure you had a reason for it.” He hesitated, looking unsure. “ Anything I could help with? You look a little lost.”

Kai gaped at the being before him. He was mistaken, this wasn’t a giant, this was an angel! Sent to save him in his time of need! He almost cried from sheer joy.

“Yes, please! I have been looking for this for the past three hours!” He pointed to the apartment building circled on the map. “Can you tell me how to get here please?”

The heaven-sent stranger looked at the map, then up at Kai, then back down at the map. 

“Byeul apartments?”

“ _ Yes! _ Do you know where they are?”

The stranger pointed right behind Kai. There, on top of a gate, was a sign that proudly read  **Byeul apartments, vacancies available.**

Kai and the stranger stared at each other, before the stranger started to chuckle, then giggle, then laugh hysterically as tears of mirth streamed down his face. Kai began to blush, wavering on being embarrassed, but the situation was so ridiculous that in the end he couldn’t help but laugh as well. 

After a solid five minutes of laughing so hard they cried, the stranger straightened up and, wiping a few stray tears from his eyes said breathily “well, there you go. Did you need anything else?”

Kai hesitated, before shaking his head “no, I think I’m good! Thank you so much! I had been wandering for  _ hours _ ” 

Kai was not aware of this, but when he said this, he tilted his head just a little, and with the tears of laughter still in his eyes he looked positively, well… 

_ Adorable.  _ Like a kitten or a baby penguin. Those were the kind of eyes you couldn’t say no to, and the stranger was not immune.

Kai was confused when the stranger seemed to visibly soften, before saying “Well, if you ever need anything, you can just find me. What was your name again?”

“K- Huening Kai.” Kai stumbled slightly over his new last name “My name’s Hueningkai”

“I’ll see you around then, Hueningkai!” The stranger turned to leave, getting halfway down the block before Kai remembered that he hadn’t asked his name

“Wait!” Kai called after him “what was your name?”

“Choi Soobin” The stranger called over his shoulder. 

Kai was dumbstruck. He stared after the strang-Soobin for a solid minute, before laughing to himself again

“I guess I really will be seeing him again, huh?” Kai hefted his backpack higher on his shoulders, and set off, key in hand, to find his apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! we have met Soobin! the story can start now! We just have to struggle through a few more chapters of exposition and then adventures can start happening!  
> Sorry for the short chapter by the way, this was the best place to end it. The next chapter should be up sooner though!


	4. someone said, whats going on?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kai is not a serial killer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the late chapter! life happened and I haven't gotten more than five hours of sleep a night for the past two weeks, so that's fun X_X. Anyways, enjoy!

201, 202, 203, 204… Kai looked down at the key in his hand that displayed 405 in bold black lettering and back up at the doors. Sighing, he went back to the stairs at the side of the building and climbed up two more floors. It’s not that he was out of shape or anything, being an angel meant that he had to be in shape, but it was still annoying to have to climb stairs instead of just flying. He finally found his apartment and let himself in, only to trip over the raised threshold that he hadn’t seen with the lights off and went sprawling with a loud THUD. He lay there for a second with his head pressed into the floor. He began to laugh because honestly? This situation was so ridiculous that he couldn’t even… he was a junior angel, for crying out loud! He hadn’t even been working as an animal guardian for more than five years, and he could barely even remember before that! And now here he was, a guardian angel in human form for four humans! He flipped over and looked at the ceiling, then abruptly stood up.  _ I may not know what I’m doing, but… whatever! I’m sure it’ll work out eventually.  _ And with that, Kai took off his shoes and went into the main room of his apartment. 

He had to admit, it was nice. Much more modern than sleeping under the stars like he had while he was a guardian for animals. The apartment had a small kitchen that connected to a living room, two bedrooms on either side of the bathroom, and a sliding glass door that led to a balcony overlooking the park that the apartment building was next to. Kai hesitated before going into the bedroom, and sighed. It was completely barren. There was a bed in the center with dark blue sheets, but other than that it was just empty like the rest of his apartment. He might have not enjoyed sleeping on the ground or in trees, but at least outside he had Min-ki and the other cats, and it was  _ Alive.  _ Not dead like his apartment. 

Kai went and sat on the bed, before flipping his backpack upside down and dumping the contents out on his bed. He took the uniform and spare clothes out of the pile and put them in the wardrobe, then stared at the rest of the items spread out on the bed. A piece of paper on the bedside table with writing on it caught his eye. Picking it up, he read:

_ Welcome New residents of Byeul Apartments!  _ After that there was a bunch of rules and information about rent and building information, but what stood out to him were two items on the list of rules: 1. No pets, and 2. No painting. 

Kai stared at the paper, then looked around at his painfully bland apartment, and back down at the paper. 

_ “WHAT?!” _

_ _ _ ______________________________________

_ One Week Later _

Yeonjun’s new neighbor was… strange. That was the only word he could think of to describe him. It all started about a week and a half ago, when his landlady called him over on his way home from his part-time job and told him that he would be getting a new neighbor. 

“It’s strange though!” She said “they paid for a year's rent over the phone and said they would be here in a week or so, then hung up after finishing! They didn’t even send a picture!”

Which both intrigued Yeonjun and made him slightly nervous, because someone who didn’t send in a picture or meet in person to rent an apartment -as well as paying upfront for a year’s rent- was either just really shy, or a serial killer that needed somewhere to hide. And with his luck, it was likely to be the latter. So he waited with apprehension until about a week later, when he was playing video games in his room and heard a high pitched screech from the other side of his (probably too thin to actually meet building regulations) wall. He dropped his controller and went to the door to peer outside, only to notice the door next to his was slightly open and there was something that sounded like chanting coming from it. 

Great. He got stuck with a cultist. 

“You didn’t see anything” he mumbled to himself as he quietly closed his door and retreated back into his apartment. 

He didn’t see his new neighbor for the rest of the week, but he saw evidence of him being there. There were plants in the hall when he came back from his part-time job one night, and several times he would hear strange thuds coming from his neighbors room, almost like something was being dropped. Repeatedly. It all came to a peak one night when Yeonjun went out on his balcony while brushing his teeth and happened to look over to his neighbors… only to see a strange, suspiciously human-shaped wrapped in blue blankets on the floor of the balcony, pressed up against the fence under the window boxes, almost like it was thrown there. 

  
  


He had to get a new toothbrush after that. His had fallen four floors off of the balcony when his jaw dropped. 

After that, he decided this. Had. to. Stop. That was his favorite toothbrush, for goodness sake! And if he really was living next to a serial killer, well, best to get it over with quickly. 

The next day, he gathered up his courage and a package of ramen -he didn’t have time to buy rice cakes or fruit, and anyways, ramyeon was a gift to mankind!- and knocked on his neighbors door. 

The waiting was unbearable. He nearly turned around and went back to his apartment, but just as his nerves gave out, the door opened. He screwed his eyes shut, extended the ramyeon package in front of him like a peace offering and nearly yelled “HELLO I AM YOUR NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR WELCOME TO THE APARTMENT I JUST thought I should come say hi…..” He trailed off, internally cringing. He was never this awkward! Not to toot his own horn, but he was in the cool kids group at school! He could handle himself better than this! He coughed and straightened up, reaching out his hand (after adjusting the packet of ramyeon) to shake. 

Only then did he see his new neighbor. 

He was… not what he was expecting. A tall boy with brown hair that gently framed his ethereal, slightly foreign face with eyes that were deep and gentle, crinkled up with mirth. The boy spoke in a voice that sounded like he was barely restraining himself from laughing

“Hello, I’m Huening Kai.”

Dangit his new neighbor was a baby. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and now we have met two out of the four! Sorry for the abrupt ending I couldn't think of a better one at 1 in the morning and I really wanted to post this tonight.  
>  Please give constructive criticism I have no idea what I am doing. 
> 
> On another note
> 
> THEY DROPPED THE TEASERS AND HUENINGKAI IS LITERALLY AN ANGEL I CAN'T!!!!  
> NOT TO MENTION THE OTHER MEMBERS  
> BOYS YOUR VISUALS ARE UNFAIR


	5. This endless and hopeless march (Tell me how I can make it stop)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kai tries and fails to get a job

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter did NOT want to be written. It was like pulling nails, and then life happened and I didn't write for 2 months.   
> My sincerest apologies.

Kai had spent the past week getting familiar with his surroundings. He had explored the neighborhood a little, hoping to run into Choi Soobin again, with no luck. He could only hope that he would be able to find him soon, because he was  _ not  _ looking forward to having to put that he lost one of his humans in the first day of his mission on his first report. 

After taking the time to look around, he realized that his apartment was actually in a really nice neighborhood. It wasn’t too rich, but it was peaceful and clean, with foodstalls at the corners and a convenience store nearby. The animals here seemed mostly happy and well-fed, and from the few cats he talked to he heard that a lot of the people here left food out for them. Kai was happy about that because in his time as a guardian of animals he had seen far too many humans mistreating the animals he took care of. He had still purchased some cat and dog food and left it near a place that the cats had told him was a gathering place, just because he could finally actually interact with the animals that he loved and make a difference in their lives, rather than just watching over them. 

Unfortunately, buying the food also led him to the realization that 200,000 won was not enough money to live off of for more than about a week, and at the rate he was going, his mission could last for years. So he needed a job ASAP.

And thus began his job search.

Kai wandered the city looking for a job. The problem was, he had no idea how to find a job! Getting a job in the human world was not something that they had covered in his guardian angel… whatever they had. It certainly wasn’t training, that was for sure. He was just kind of given jobs and expected to complete them, which had lead to some very interesting failures that made him glad he was invisible to humans. (However, the squirrels involved could see him and were  _ very  _ judgemental. He could still hear their shrill mocking laughter on nights he couldn’t sleep). After reviewing the piece of paper titled  **resume: important** in his bag, he concluded two things: one, he had no idea what the places he had supposedly worked at and received his education from were, and two, he realized that he couldn’t even remember where he had learned most things, which was very worrying and almost started an existential crisis until he decided he was too tired to deal with that, so he just put that in the corner of his mind to deal with later. 

The first place he tried was a small cafe about two blocks away from his apartment. It had a very good atmosphere, and when he walked in he could smell the slightly bitter scent of coffee, mixed with the scent of sweets. The lighting was soft, with plants scattered here and there. The place looked like it was popular with college students, judging by the number of young people with computers and excessive amounts of coffee he saw at the various tables. He pulled his sleeves down slightly to cover his hands and went up to the counter where a bored-looking barista was doing something on their phone. 

“Umm… excuse me?” Kai asked hesitantly. 

“What is it… the barista said, sounding annoyed… until they looked up and did a double-take. She changed her tune very quickly. “Yes valued customer? What can I get for you today? I would recommend the...”

Kai interrupted. “I’m actually here to see if you are hiring?” 

The barista sat back. “oh… OH! Well, give me just a second! I will go and get the manager!” She stood up with a screech, almost knocking her chair over, then quickly ran to the back, leaving Kai standing there awkwardly. He cleared his throat and looked around at the various items they had on display, trying to ignore the eyes he could feel boring into the back of his head  _ my clothes aren’t ripped or anything, are they? _

After waiting a few minutes and becoming increasingly more uncomfortable, Kai started to turn around to leave, when the barista came walking back slowly, looking slightly disappointed.

“I’m sorry, but we’re not hiring at the moment” the barista said “but! If you’re free tonight, maybe… we could go out somewhere?” The barista looked up through their eyelashes at Kai, who was thoroughly confused.

_ But I’m already going outside tonight? Oh well. _

He sighed “Oh, ok then. I guess I will try somewhere else. Thanks though!” He smiled slightly at the barista before walking away.

As he left the store, the bell over the door snapped the barista back from the stupor that Kai’s smile had induced, only to realize that he hadn’t responded to their question

“Hey wait…” they called, and sighed before putting their head on the counter. 

“Dangit why don’t any of the attractive guys pay attention to me?”

The college students continued studying, ignoring the baristas plight

\------------------------

Over the course of the week, Kai tried at a variety of different jobs, including:

5 coffee shops

A china shop

3 chicken places

And a strange tarot reading place, that he had originally thought was a craft shop till he walked in through the beaded curtain and sat down in front of the shopkeeper, only for the shopkeeper to attempt to read his future in a crystal ball, then start screaming something about “already dead” and “get out of here, I can’t work with a cursed guardian!”

……. Yeah, that one didn’t work out.

By the end of the week, he was beginning to consider giving up on getting a job and just living off of the land like the animals had taught him. He even had it all planned out! He would continue to stay in the apartment, since it was already paid for, and train the squirrels to bring him nuts…

His line of thinking was cut off when he was abruptly brought to a stop by the impact of his face against a wall 

“Ouch!” He stepped back, rubbing his nose, and glared at the offending wall

“Now what was… that… for…” He trailed off when he saw a flyer on the wall, declaring in bold print:  **HELP NEEDED AT DOLBONEUN ANIMAL SHELTER, flexible hours, regular pay, must be good at caring for animals…** followed by a lot of small print and tabs on the bottom with numbers and an address

“Perfect!” Kai exclaimed with a smile and took one of the paper tabs before heading out to find the animal shelter

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and so we end on a (slight) cliffhanger! sorry not sorry. I am really looking forward to showing you all what I have in store though, so I hope you will bear with me through this long exposition

**Author's Note:**

> I should have chapter 1 up in few days or a week. if you have any comments, please leave them! I would love to get to know any fellow MOAs out there!


End file.
